It is the third day in succession the doomed McClaren has suffered the indignity of arriving at the club’s Benton training ground knowing he faces the sack.

McClaren knows he has been a dead man walking ever since fans turned on him during Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat against Bournemouth which leaves Newcastle deep in the relegation mire.

Reports have emerged in Spain that former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has agreed a three-year deal to take over from McClaren - but they are premature.

The Toon board met in York on Monday afternoon but despite deciding then that McClaren must go to save the Magpies’ Premier League status, they have yet to fire him.

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He has been forced to endure the public humiliation of being photographed at the training ground and preparing his players for Monday night’s TV game at title-chasing Leicester in the knowledge that he will almost certainly not be in the visitors’ dug-out.

A face to face meeting between managing director Lee Charnley and McClaren set up for yesterday afternoon was cancelled – apparently to avoid a media circus.

But the club certainly did not cancel talks to spare McClaren further embarrassment.

When the axe eventually falls - and it could be today - his will have been one of the most humiliating and drawn out executions in Premier League history.

Charnley has used intermediaries to discuss terms with Benitez - a manager more accustomed to life at the top end of tables rather than fighting for survival.

The former Liverpool boss, out of work since being sacked by Real Madrid, will be given powers McClaren and predecessors Alan Pardew and John Carver could only dream about during their spells at St James’ Park.

While McClaren was appointed as head coach, Benitez will be handed the manager’s title.

And if he stays beyond the end of the season, the Spaniard will have a far more influential role in transfer policy than any other manager or coach during the Mike Ashley era.

Newcastle are understood to be drawing up a three year contract for Benitez though it will include a get-out clause allowing the two parties to go their separate ways if he cannot keep the club up in their remaining ten games.